Kortney Haag is a mom to two young active boys and understands the time challenges many athletes face and the importance of balance in life as well as in training. She has had extensive experience coaching and racing at all triathlon distances. You can contact her at kortneyhaag@gmail.com

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Ironman Wisconsin Race Report -

I don't want to make this a super long post because I am still trying to get my life back together after being gone for four days and then I am leaving in two days to see one of my athletes finish her first triathlon out in Malibu, California.
I had a great day in Wisconsin but it didn't turn out the way I had planned, some things went out of the plan but that is what happens during an Ironman - you have to expect the unexpected.
We packed up the van on Friday, there were three kids and three adults and I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to get it all in there. We were pretty packed in!

We drove to the hotel in Wisconsin and my sister then took the kids and the van to my mom's house who lives a little over an hour south of Madison. I was so grateful for her to make the trip, she helped us so much with the kids and then she had her own to take care of!

It was pretty awesome to be a part of all the buzz that was going on in the city and I was very excited to race. Poor Derek got some of the brunt of my nervousness and anticipation as I had a couple of melt downs about my coffee being cold and not getting my oatmeal right - thanks Derek for putting up with me.

I knew the day was going to be a little chiller than expected and I was going back and forth on what to wear - I decided just to wear my Gear West jersey with triathlon shorts and arm warmers because I do get cold out there and I like to race in the heat!

Race day arrived and felt good to go. I got in the water at a good time and got to see fellow Minnesotan Anthony Hirschman waiting in line so that helped calm my nerves. I lined up just by the ski jump and I treaded water for about 6 mins. I didn't get beat up too bad but there were a couple of times some man hands came after me. The only time it got real physical was when we were going around or close to the buoys. I found some feet to swim on for the last section of the race and that was nice. Running up the helix was awesome - I saw Derek and my family and I knew it was going to be a fun day.

I had rode the course so I knew what to expect and absolutely loved it! I wanted to get in around 250-300 calories per hour on the bike. The best part of the bike were the climbs because of all the people waiting for you to run and cheer. At Old Sauk Pass I saw three guys in basketball outfits and thought they were hilarious - they were cheering for me and telling me I looked great. At that time I was in somewhat of a daze and just smiling at people and concentrating on the race. I remember thinking to myself on the second loop I hope those guys are there again because they were hilarious - come to find out it was my husband, his brother and friend!

Around mile 50 my bike computer went out as well as the tape was falling off my handlebars. I was annoyed by this but it was probably a good thing so I didn't try and hold a certain mph on the flats but to just go by feel. The other problem that happened was that I dropped my chain three times - this is not like me and super annoyed that I did this as it costed me somewhere around 2-5 mins on the bike.

I was so happy to start the run and knew I was in a good position coming in - I passed two pros on the bike and didn't think there were too many other amateurs ahead of me. As I was exiting T2 a volunteer told me I was in the top 10 and 2nd amateur female - I was happy with this and just wanted to run a solid marathon hoping to not have any issues with the hamstring. My hamstring actually felt the best it had going into the race with seeing Crystal at Spine and sport and getting massages weekly to really work it out. What was really bothering me was my back as I had a rib out of place that I do struggle with time to time and Crystal put some kinesology tape on it the night before.
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The run course is tough, lots of hills and you can't get into a rhythm with all of the turning but I felt good and kept up my nutrition as I had planned. I saw my family again around mile 5 and gave Owen a high five! As I was making my way to the special needs run bag around the halfway point I started to feel crappy. I was thinking to myself I wish I had another pair of shorts in there because I really feel like I could poop my pants! If anyone saw my pace you can see that it slowly went down the ladder - I was on pace to do about a 3:30 to 3:40 marathon and I remember Cathy Yndestad saying to me keep strong Kort nice and steady. I kept those thoughts in my head and just kept on truckin - but did have to find a bathroom about every 5 mins and sometimes had to wait to use one. That can really bring your time down and that is what happened. I had never experienced this kind of issues on my training runs after a bike but I know that in a race so many emotions, endorphins, etc can come into play that can affect your nutrition and I do think that I did take in too many carbs at one time and my body can't handle that. Your body can only process about 30-60 grams of carbs per hour and I will need to go back and evaluate through racing and training of what I can process. Ironman is a whole different ballgame versus the half and I think I got my half ironman nutrition down pretty good. As I was making my way to the finish line I heard my name cheered but was in such a daze that I had no clue that I was finishing the race. A volunteer held me up and brought me over to a grassy area where I told her - I need to use the bathroom - AGAIN! Derek eventually found me and all I wanted to do was lay in the grass and not move.

Everyone came over to congratulate me and it was great to see them all - friends from college, almost my whole family as well as my in- laws. I could not had asked for more support and encouragement from them. I didn't get a chance to celebrate with them, take pictures, nothing....I went straight back to my hotel where I passed out for about a half hour after taking a bath, tried to eat 1/2 of a pizza but couldn't stomach it, went to bed where somewhere about midnight I woke up with the worst feeling in my stomach. I then spent the rest of the night by the toilet! The next morning I was still feeling horrible so we made our way to Urgent Care after talking to a couple of people about my issues and they suggested to not mess around with my symptoms. I got 2.5 bags of IV's and after 4 hours in the room was released to go home. I so wanted to be one of those who was eating dairy queen and loving every minute of it but all I got was some saltine crackers and chicken broth - yummy! My good friend Harvey told me to just let it go - literally the next time because he saw a woman at Grandma's marathon running with poo poo down the back of her shorts an someone asked her if she needed anything and her reply was "To qualify for Boston!"
Looking back I need to remember that I did have a good time with all the circumstances that happened that day, I have a great family who loves and supports me. The support that was out there that day cheering me and all of the other athletes on that day - WOW you guys are the reason why I wouldn't want to do any other Ironman just because the amount of love you receive out there is amazing. Thank you!!! Someday I hope to be back there to race but next year I am there to support my athletes and those who cheered for me last Sunday!